Spiti
Founded in AD 996, and retaining five sub-temples dating back over 900 years, Tabo Gompa is reckoned to be the oldest continuously functioning Buddhist…
Must-see attractions in Lahaul & Spiti
Spiti
This gloriously calm glacial lake presents mirror-perfect reflections of the surrounding white-top peaks and geological colour-swirls. At 4270m, the 20…
Spiti
Like a series of whitewashed limpets, the 1200-year-old Dhankar Gompa clings precariously to an eroded cliff-edge rock pinnacle, high above the beautiful…
Spiti
Forming the watershed between Lahaul and Spiti, this 4551m pass, accessed by multiple switchbacks, is topped by a grassy area where stupas are strewn with…
Spiti
Covering a conical hillock with an array of whitewashed monastic buildings, Ki (Kee, Key) is the largest gompa in Spiti. Views of it from the south are…
Lahaul & Spiti
The squat little temple is a remarkable example of Hindu-Buddhist syncretism with a basic Hindu vihar tower but a series of prayer wheels lining the inner…
Lahaul & Spiti
High above Gemur but accessed on the side lane that winds up via Kolong, Khamsar Khar is an intriguing, unrestored Lahauli palace: 104 dusty, barely lit…
Spiti
Near the top of Lhalung village, this outwardly modest monastery is actually an antique gem. Beneath a yellow painted tin roof, the very atmospheric…
Lahaul & Spiti
This unique temple has a very unusual wooden roof, half of which forms a spiky spire. Inside, fabulous, detailed wood carvings dating from the 11th to…
Spiti
Offering beautiful reflections of the mountainscape plus chorten, this small lake sits high above Dhankar, accessed on foot by a steep 2km path that…
Lahaul & Spiti
A logistical nightmare or a scenic highlight depending on your experience, the Rohtang La (3978m) is, at least physically, the high point of a journey…
Lahaul & Spiti
On concrete stilts facing Keylong across the valley, Kardang Gompa has existed for 900 years, but was refounded in 1912. Maintained by an order of Drukpa…
Lahaul & Spiti
Founded in the 17th century by the Zanskari lama Deva Gyatsho, Shashur's original gompa, featuring 5m-high thangkas, is now encased within a modern…
Spiti
Probably founded in the 14th century near Hikkim, Tangyud monastery relocated to Komic after a devastating 1975 earthquake. The oldest section is within…
Lahaul & Spiti
The masterpiece within this outwardly unremarkable 16th-century temple hides in a chamber at the back of the main idols: walk around to the right and…
Lahaul & Spiti
At the west end of town, this semi-interesting museum can give context to what you've seen in local villages, ideas of other places to go and potted…
Lahaul & Spiti
Locals have no idea who carved them or how old they are but several of the town's springs are sanctified by stone facias with obviously ancient carvings…
Spiti
A number of small caves, whose openings are easily visible on the hillside just above the main road, were once part of the old monastery complex. Access…
Spiti
At Kungri, this very large, custard-yellow monastery is predominantly new but has three much more interesting medieval shrines, featuring blackened murals…
Lahaul & Spiti
Perched high above the hamlet of Stingri, 4km east of Keylong, ancient Tayul Gompa has elegant mural work, a 4m-high statue of Padmasabhava and a…
Lahaul & Spiti
A fine example of a typical Pangi temple, this tiny box of a room topped by triangular eaves is fronted by colourful, wonderfully naïve carvings including…
Lahaul & Spiti
In Gondhla, 14km west of Sissu, this six-storey, stone-and-timber tower fort was built about 300 years ago and used to be a local thakur's (lord's)…
Spiti
On the very crown of the gompa crag stands the crumbling fort-cum-palace that gave Dhankar its name (khar means 'citadel' and dhak means 'cliff'). Now…
Spiti
The golden face-paint is starting to peel off the large 2005 Buddha statue, who stares across the Spiti valley from a shoulder of ridge above Langza…
Spiti
The colourful new Sakya Gompa, inaugurated in 2009, stands just above the main road in New Kaza. Across the road is a row of eight stupas, with lines of…
Spiti
A new but very much traditionally styled extension to the old gompa's Zal-ma is nearing completion and will eventually house a museum of the monastery's…
Spiti
To enrich your knowledge of Tibet and Buddhism, discover this great little reference library hidden away upstairs within the monastery guesthouse building…
Spiti
The lamas who remain at Dhankar no longer inhabit the old gompa, having moved in 2009 to the red-and-gold New Monastery, 800m away around the hillside.
Lahaul & Spiti
Raja Ghepan, the presiding lord of Lahaul, resides on Ghepan (Gepang) mountain, which towers above Sissu, 4km west of the Rohtang Tunnel's northern…
